Flushing cistern



FLUSHING CISTERN Filed April l0, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F Z Il n L m R A FLUSHING CISTERN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April l0, 1939 Patented June 25, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application April 10, 1939, Serial No. 267,196 In Great Britain April 11, 1938 5 claims.

The invention relates to a device for'the discharge of a predetermined quantity of liquid especially adapte-d for the purpose of flushing and in which the liquid is delivered through a valve chamber having an outlet closed by a valve by opening the said valve by means of an electrically operated device.

The object of this invention is to provide a device which is very simple in operation requiring little expenditure of manual power or effort and is also so very compact that it occupies Very little space.

To operate the device all that is necessary is to momentarily establish connection in an electrical switch (e. g., by pressing momentarily a press button switch).

It has been proposed on the one hand to provide a chamber for holding a part of the liquid to be discharged and openl for uncontrolled entry of liquid from a service reservoir or main with a valve controlled outlet in its bottom, the valve being electrically actuated. In this proposal, however, the liquid discharge device formed one of a series the electrical devices of which were energised and de-energised periodically by a rotary switch, and the closing of the outlet valve was determined by the period of revolution of the rotary switch and not by liquid operated mechanism.

On the other hand it has been proposd to provide a flushing cistern with an outlet valve operatively connected to an electrical device for opening it and maintaining it open, liquid operated mechanism, such as the usual ball valve, acting to break the circuit of the electrical device when the required quantity of liquid had been discharged. InI these proposals, however, the apparatus did not include a chamber for holding a part of the liquid to be discharged and open for uncontrolled entry of liquid, nor did the liquid operated mechanism depend for its actuation on a part only of the liquid discharged through a branch passage in the outlet.

The invention consists of a device for discharging a predetermined quantity of liquid adapted for flushing in which the liquid to be delivered enters a valve chamber (or valve) from a service reservoir or main and the liquid is delivered therefrom through an outlet which is branched. The delivery oi the liquid is eiected by opening the valve in said chamber 'by the aid of a mechanism which is actuated by momentarily closing an electric circuit said circuit remaining closed and thereby keeping the valve open till the requisite quantity of water hasbeen discharged when contact between two contact pieces in the circuitis broken by a second mechanism which is actuated by part of the liquid discharged from the valve 4chamber through one of the branches .of the outlet.

An important application of this device is such that it may be made to ensure discharge of a predetermined and definite quantity of liquid which will not vary even if the supply head or pressure of the liquid is altered.

This can be ensuredby branching the outlet pipe in such manner that the amount of liquid discharged through the branches bear constan-t ratio to one another depending on the diameters of the branches which (diameters) lare fixed. Change in supply head changes the actual time of total discharge only but the ratio of discharge through one branch to discharge through any other branch remains constant. The liquid discharged through one of the branches operates a mechanism which closes the valve of the valve chamber when a certain predetermined quantity of liquid has been discharged through it (the branch) by which time a deiinite quantity of liquid will have been discharged through the other branch (or branches) of the outlet. The amount of liquid discharged altogether through the outlet will bear a definite ratio to the amount of liquid discharged through the branch which discharges liquid for operating valve closing mechanism'. Thus by xing the amount of liquid which'should be discharged through this branch before the valve closing mechanism is operated, the total quantity of discharge is fixed. The supply head will merely vary the time of discharge, the quantity remaining unchanged.

VThe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a sectional elevation of the flushing apparatus.

Fig 2 is a sectional plan on X-X Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan on Y-Y Figure 1. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the apparatus and closet.

The iiushing apparatus 8 is provided with a partition la which separates the top half from' the lower portion of the apparatus, an inlet pipe 6 admits water from the service reservoir or main to enter the valve chamber I, which may be provided with an air valve. An outlet pipe 'la leads from` the bottom of the valve chamber land the outlet is closed by a valve A, said valve 4 is attachedlto a stem 3 which rises through the gland 3a and said stem has a lever arm 9 attached to its upper end. Ihis lever arm 9 works on a fulcrum 92L and is provided withy a T piece 9b made of magnetic material.

The inlet 6 is connected to a service reservoir or main and the valve chamber I remains full of water With the valve l closed. The outlet pipe 'la leads from the valve chamber l and branches oli into two pipes 'Ib and 'Ic which in Fig. 1 are shown to discharge at the same level.

The pipe lc discharges into the reservoir 2 formed with the apparatus 8 and partition wall 2a, a float 5 within this reservoir 2 is guided by its ears I2 and guides I3. to the oat 5 carries at its upper end an insulated electric contact piece I3, and sai-d stem II passes through an opening IIEL in the partition wall la; i4 is an electromagnet and i,'I is the main electric push button which is to be pressed for flushing. I6 is an electric Contact piece having its upper end I5a a nonconductor, I5 is a subsidiary electric push. T1 and T2 are terminals of the electromagnet It.

The inlet 6 is connected to a service reservoir or main and the valve chamber I is full of water with the valve closed; when the switch i1 is closed by pressing it momentarily, the electric circuit oi the electromagnet I4 is closed and the T piece end 5b of the lever arm 9 is attracted by the electromagnet .Ill and draws down the lever arm 9 and raises the valve 4.

The water is discharged through the outlet la and through the branch pipes ib and 7c. The water through the pipe lb discharges direct through the final outlet 'I and 'thence into the closet Iil whereas water through the branch pipe IC is discharged into the reservoir 2.

While the lever arm 9 is attractedby the electromagnet l the lever arm 9 also presses the electric push I5 and although the electric push I'i may be released, the electric circuit of the electromagnet ifa is still kept closed by the pressing of the electric push I5 and owing to the contact between the contact pieces I3 and I6. The lever arm 9 therefore remains attracted to the electromagnet M and the valve 4 remains raised and the water continues to discharge through the outlet la.

As the branch pipe ln discharges water into the reservoir 2 the float 5 rises till the Water in the reservoir 2 reaches a predetermined level, at this point the contact piece I3 of the float Vreaches the non-conductor portion Itau of the contact piece I6.

The electric circuit of the electromagnet I4 is then broken and the lever arm then nies back to its normal position against the spring S and thereby lowering the valve 4 and closing the outlet la.

The predetermined level of the reservoir 2 at which the current cut-olf takes place is calibrated in such a way that by the time the water level in the reservoir 2 rises to the required height the requisite quantity of water for flushing has been discharged through the branch pipe 'lb into the dnal outlet TI. The water in the reservoir 2 is discharged into the iinal outlet l through the pipe lli and valve Illa, said valve Il)a being attached to an extension 9c of the lever arm 9 by the spindle Illb. The valve Il]a remains normally open. When the push I'I is pressed and lever arm 9 is attracted by the electromagnet I4 the valve Il)a is lowered and closes the subsidiary outlet I0. This outlet Ill remains closed as long as the lever arm is attracted to the electromagnet I4, i. e., until the requisite quantity of water has been discharged through the outlet 'Ib into the nal A stem I attached` outlet 1. When the current is out off automatically the lever arm swings back to its normal position thereby raising the valve Illa and the reservoir 2 is emptied through the outlet Ill. The apparatus now is ready for the next operation when on pressing the push I'I exactly a similar cycle will follow.

It has already been stated that an important application of the device is such that the quantity of water discharged is independent of the supply head or pressure. This is taken care of in the design illustrated.

The outlet 'lCL is branched off into two pipes 'Ib and 'le both of which are made to discharge at the same level as shown in Fig. 1. It can be shown from hydraulic considerations that the quantities of water discharged through the pipes 'lb and 'lc during any particular period of time, bear a constant ratio to one another, which de pends entirely on the sizes, shapes and materials of these pipes 'Ib and 'Ic only and nothing else. The relative positions of the supply reservoir and the apparatus will determine the actual velocities in these pipes or the actual quantities discharged through these pipes per unit of time; but the ratio of velocities or quantities discharged per unit of time will be constant for the pipes 'Ib and TC. Hence, for a given quantity discharged through the pipe 'IC into the reservoir 2, a xed quantity will be discharged through the pipe "Ib to the nal. outlet 1. The level of reservoir 2 at which the current cut-oir takes place, determines the actual quantity discharged through the pipes 'IC and consequently the actual quantity that is discharged through the pipe 'Ib also. As long as the current cut-off level of the reservoir 2 remains the same, the amount of water discharged through pipe 'lb remains constant also. Relative positions of supply reservoir and the apparatus merely vary the actual rate of flow or the time of discharge but do not in any way effect the quantity discharged. For example, if the current cut-off level of reservoir 2 is calibrated to give a discharge of 3 gallons, the pipe 'Ih will discharge 3 gallons whether the supply reservoir is 5 ft. or 30 ft. above the apparatus, only in case of the higher head, the discharge will be quicker. The actual time of discharge, however, is immaterial, as long as it is quick enough even for a low head and the apparatus can be designed accordingly.

It will be seen from the above that the apparatus can be manufactured on a mass production and the user can place it at any suitable place between the supply reservoir or main and the commode, without worrying about placing it at any particular place.

I claim:

l. A device for discharging a predetermined quantity of liquid comprising a valve chamber holding a portion of the liquid to be discharged, said chamber being open for uncontrolled entry of liquid from a service reservoir or main and having a valve controlled main outlet passage, said valve being operatively connected to an electrical device for opening and maintaining it open, a branch passage in the said outlet for independently supplying a part of the liquid discharged to a separate reservoir, liquid operated mechanism in the said reservoir being operatively connected to means for interrupting the circuit of the said electrical device, whereby when the required quantity of liquid has been discharged through the said main outlet passage, the electrical circuit is broken and the outlet valve is closed.

2. A device as in claim 1, in which' while the branch passage in the outlet of the valve chamber independently supplies a part of the liquid discharged into a separate reservoir connected to means for interrupting circuit of the electrical device, the main passage of the outlet effects uncontrolled and continuous discharge till the outlet valve is closed due to interruption of the electrical circuit.

3. A device as in claim 1, in Which the branch passage in the outlet of the Valve chamber independently supplies a part of the liquid discharged to a separate reservoir Where the liquid accumulates till it operates the mechanism for interrupting the circuit of the electrical device, whereby when the required quantity of liquid has been dischaged though the said outlet, the electical circuit is broken and-the outlet valve is closed. v

4. A device as in claim 1, in Which the amount of liquid discharged per unit of time through the branch passage of the outlet of the valve chamber bears a constant ratio to the liquid discharged through the main passage. y

5. A device as in claim 1, in which the branch passage and the main passage of the outlet of the valve chamber, discharge at the-same level.

AMRITA RANJAN PALIT. 

